Balamb Confidential
by neored13
Summary: A sad, sad state of affairs at Balamb Garden. Rated PG for descriptions of nudity and several mentions of girl's underwear.


Author's note: This story came from a little idea I had. Which drugs would the characters in 8 be on? Some were easy, like Zell on speed or Squall taking depressants. Others... weren't quite as easy. Well, see for yourself. This started out being a humor story, but that dropped out while it was still in my head. Drugs are no laughing matter. This is not written from personal experience, except that I do have a few potheads in my area. See if you can guess whose viewpoint this is from.  
  
  
This is a testimonial. The people are not real, but they could be. The drugs are real. This story is not made to entertain or amuse, but to inform. Drugs are the bane of our society. The fact that they are generally ignored by the mainstream video game producers is no reason why they should not be addressed.  
  
Balamb Confidential  
by neored13  
  
So. You're here. I always knew this day would come. Well, sit down. You want to know how all this started, don't you. Well, the truth is, it's always been going on. It's as hard to find out where this began as it is to find out where the rest of a Vysage is. ... Your men can put those guns away, I'm not going anywhere. Could you get me a drink? The bottle's in the closet, in a hatbox. Yes. Thank you. A drink always helps to calm my nerves.  
  
I never wanted to get into this. But I had to. You're familiar with the Casino in Dollet? I worked up... a considerable debt there. What's more, Don Corneo was threatening to injure or kill me if I didn't pay. My SeeD paycheck barely covers essentials. I couldn't pay the debt and live within my means. You know how it is? It's hard to imagine a SeeD like me having money problems, but it happens. More often than you think. SeeD relies on the payment of outside organizations to keep running. And when budgets get tight, they cut salaries first. Oh, never mind. You don't want to hear my sob stories.  
  
Zell was the first one to come to me. He showed up in the middle of one of my classes one day and just stood at the back, watching. He waited until the class had left, then came up to me at my desk.  
  
"Hey, Instructor."  
  
"Yes, Zell?"  
  
"Uhh, listen, this is gonna be hard to believe, but..." He paused for a second, then blurted out, "I need some drugs."  
  
"What?" I was shocked. Zell seemed to be the cleanest person one could meet. "Zell, are you telling me..."  
  
"Yes, but there's a reason! I need speed. It's the only thing that helps recently. I can't keep breaking into the Infirmary, Dr. Kadowaki's starting to get suspicious."  
  
"Zell, you shouldn't be talking to me about this! I am a member of SeeD and Garden's faculty! There is no way I am going to obtain drugs for you. I can help you get into a rehab program if you want..."  
  
"No!" Zell slammed his hands onto my desk. A muscle in his face twitched. "Please, Instructor... I need it! I can't go without! Please, you don't know what it's like..." He dropped a 500 Gil bill onto the desk. "Please... just... think about it..." He shivered and left the room.  
  
I sat there and stared at the crumpled bill for a while. That would go a long way towards keeping the Don off my back. But Zell had asked me to try and obtain a controlled substance for him. I couldn't do that. It went against all my training, my morals, and my sense of dignity. But still, that was 500 Gil worth of protection... Maybe I could just take the money and not get Zell anything... No. That was just wrong. I'd known Zell since we were little. I'd never be able to look him in the face again if I betrayed his trust like that. I probably wouldn't even be able to look at myself in the mirror.  
  
I suddenly stood up and slipped the money into my pocket. I couldn't... But... I had to. Now the only problem was how to get the amphetamines... And how to live with myself. I remembered that snipers sometimes used amphetamines to stay awake on long missions.  
  
After looking through the Cafeteria, Training Center, and Library, I approached Irvine's dorm room. I knocked on the door.  
  
"Come in!"  
  
I opened the door onto a scene of chaos. Clothing lay scattered about, empty plates and snack bags littered the floor, and Irvine's Exeter lay on the table, half-disassembled. The bed was a disheveled mess, as was the person sitting on it. Make that persons. Selphie's distinctive bed-head hairstyle stuck out from under the blankets. Irvine sat on the bed, clad only in a pair of girl's panties that was at least a couple sizes too small for him. I decided to focus on his face.  
  
"Ohh, hey, Instructor! How's it going?"  
  
"Hello, Irvine. Umm, you appear to have a slight clothing problem..."  
  
"No, I just figured I wouldn't get dressed until breakfast."  
  
"Irvine, it's past lunchtime. And you're wearing Selphie's underwear."  
  
"Huh? Oh! Well, that's not right..." He looked up at me. "So why'd you come down here? I know you didn't want to talk about my fashion sense..."  
  
Selphie sat up and hugged Irvine. "Yeah, he's mine! So don't think you can sneak in and steal him from under the nose of the Great Sefie!" She reached over to the bedside table and picked up a pill bottle. She popped three pills into her mouth and swallowed them. "Ah, that's better!"  
  
I stared. "Selphie... What were those?"  
  
"Oh, these? Just some Prozac. I got Dr. Kadowaki to give 'em to me 'cause I just don't think I could cope after losing most of my friends at Trabia! But you see, I keep dropping them down the toilet on accident! Tee hee! At least, that's what I tell her!"  
  
Oh boy. I was beginning to wonder how many of my fellow SeeDs had drug problems. "Listen, Irvine. You've used amphetamines before, right? For a mission?"  
  
"Uh... Yeah! They keep you awake when the target just won't come out of the house. Then when they do..." A strange light appeared in his eyes.  
  
"Yes, of course. So, if I was going to try to get some... Not that I want any, mind you, I'm just asking in case I need to... How would I go about it?"  
  
"Oh, just go tell the doc you've got a mission and you need some. Most of the time you won't even need to show her any orders. She's a bit too trusting. But uh... Get about three times as much as you think you'll need. Believe me, you're going to need it!" He paused. "Wait a minute... Instructor, are you a speed freak? That stuff'll kill ya."  
  
I shook my head. "Oh, no, no. What gave you that idea?"  
  
"Well, uh... never mind. Oh, hey, that reminds me!" He opened a drawer on his nightstand, pulled out a hand-rolled cigarette, lit it and took a drag before offering it to me. "Want some? It's good stuff, pure Trabian Dynamite."  
  
"No thanks, Irvine. I think I'll pass."  
  
He shrugged. "Suit yourself." He passed the joint to Selphie, who took a hit and immediately began giggling uncontrollably. A thought seemed to strike Irvine. "Hey, have you seen Raijin around? He was supposed to come over and party."  
  
"Nope, sorry." I excused myself and headed for the Infirmary. As I turned the corner into the hallway, I collided with Squall coming the other way. Both of us fell down, and several pill bottles fell out of Squall's pockets. He quickly scrambled to pick them up. I grabbed one before he could get it and examined the label.  
  
"Dilaudid? Hydromorphone hydrochloride? Squall, what are you..."  
  
"Please don't tell anyone, Instructor. Please. Dr. Kadowaki doesn't know I have these. Please..."  
  
I stopped for a moment. Squall on depressants... It explained a lot. What could I do? I was going to illegally obtain drugs for Zell, I couldn't very well jump on Squall for doing the same for himself... I handed the bottle back to Squall. "Well, I'll overlook this transgression... this time. If I catch you with these again, You'll have to produce a prescription."  
  
Squall scrambled to his feet. "...Thanks." He hurried off, hurriedly cramming the bottles back into his pockets.  
  
Hmm? Get on with it? Yes, all right. Could you get me another drink? I seem to have run out. Thank you. I'm afraid my drinking started shortly after Zell came up to me. Well, after I gave him the drugs.  
  
I managed to get the amphetamines without a problem. Dr. Kadowaki didn't even seem suspicious. I left them in my desk all the next day. I grew increasingly nervous as the day went on. What if Zell decided he didn't need them? What if this was a setup, and he'd already reported me to Headmaster Cid? What if there was a contingent of SeeDs outside the classroom with a drug-sniffing dog?  
  
Zell walked into the classroom about halfway through my last class. Again, he stood against the back wall until class was over, then approached me after the class had left.  
  
"You got it?"  
  
I pulled out a small plastic bag containing about a third of what Dr. Kadowaki had given me. "Is this about right?"  
  
Zell nearly tore the bag out of my hand. "Yeah, this is it! Thanks! You're a gem, Instructor!" He paused. "Um, can I count on you for more of this? I'll pay for it all and everything."  
  
"Of- of course, Zell. Just try not to use all that at once."  
  
"No prob! See ya!" Zell dashed out, stuffing the bag in his pocket as he went.  
  
I sat there for a few minutes. What had I done? Was this really my only option? Had I really sunk this low? Selling drugs to pay off my gambling debts... What? Of course, of course.. You don't want to hear my rationalizations. You just want what happened. You people are all alike. Could I get another drink? Thanks.  
  
Sigh... Well, after that things went downhill. I kept getting speed for Zell, and occasionally I'd get a request from another student. I always dismissed the other students. It was bad enough without half the Garden knowing. I started drinking to forget about my problems. The Don wanted more money. I''d already paid off my debts, but now he wanted interest.  
  
After a few weeks, Rinoa came up to me after class. "Hello, Instructor."  
  
"Hello, Rinoa. You don't have to call me Instructor after all we've been through. I may be teaching you, but that doesn't mean I'm not your friend."  
  
"All right. Hey, listen, some of the girls are having a party and we wondered if you might want to join us."  
  
"Really? I'd love to." I figured a party would be just the thing to help me relax and maybe sort through what was in my head.  
  
"Great! It's at 9 o'clock tonight in my room. Wear whatever you want."  
  
I showed up. What else? It would have been rude to just stand her up. Then again, If I'd known how that night would go... Rinoa opened the door, clad in her standard blue ensemble. "Hi! Come on in, it's just started!"  
  
I entered... and stopped in shock. The main reason was that Selphie was sitting on the bed, totally naked. She smiled and waved. "HI!" She picked up a pill bottle and popped five pills into her mouth. "Come on in!"  
  
I walked over to her. "Selphie... How many of those have you taken?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, I don't know... Maybe around fifteen? Closer to twenty?"  
  
"Selphie, that dosage isn't safe!"  
  
"Hey, it's okay! Everything's cool! Geez, stop being such a spoilsport. You're starting to make me feel depressed..." She reached for the bottle again. I snatched it out of her reach.  
  
"Selph, you'd say everything was cool right now if there was a Tri-Face chewing on your legs and a Ruby Dragon starting on the rest of you!"  
  
"Come on, give it back! Give it BACK!" She made a wild grab for the bottle, overbalanced, and fell off the bed. She began giggling. "Wheee!"  
  
I turned to Rinoa. "Rinoa, how..." Rinoa put down the mirror and straw she was holding and turned to me.  
  
"How what?" She looked at me for a moment. "What? You mean you didn't know?"  
  
"I knew about Selphie and her Prozac, but I didn't know you..."  
  
"That I was into coke? What did you think, that I was Miss Sunshine all by myself? I need this stuff to cope. Especially with Squall, he almost never does anything anymore..." She paused. "Or anyone..." She picked up the mirror and snorted another line of fine, white powder.  
  
I groaned. "What next?"  
  
My question was answered by a voice from the bathroom. "CRACK!"  
  
"Fujin?"  
  
Fujin staggered out of the bathroom, a small cloud of fumes rising from a glass pipe clutched in her hand. She spotted me. "HI!" She aimed the pipe in my direction. "WANT?"  
  
"No, no thanks Fujin, I'm fine..."  
  
I looked around the room. Rinoa, with her mirror and straw, snorting a month's pay up her nose. Fujin sitting on the bed, smoking. Selphie over in the corner, singing one of her train songs to Angelo. I sighed. "Rinoa, do you have anything here to drink?"  
  
"Uh, there's some pop in the fridge..."  
  
"No, I mean something... harder."  
  
"Oh. Well, check under the bed. There might be one or two bottles down there."  
  
The rest of the evening was... rather blurry. I do remember there were more than just one or two bottles under the bed. The next thing I remember is waking up in my bed in the morning with the great ancestor of all hangovers, my bra on upside down, and Fujin's panties on. To this day I still don't know what happened to my own underwear. All three say they don't have them, and don't know what happened to them.  
  
I think it all changed the day Zell died. He was taking far too much speed. I'd told him that, but he insisted he could handle it. Sigh... He cast Haste on himself and tried to outrun a train. It worked... Until he hit a tree. Well, at least he died quickly. A probe by the Garden Faculty discovered the traces of amphetamines in his blood, and a search of his room found his stash. I knew it was only a matter of time before the trail led back to me.  
  
Yes. I know what the penalty is. I know my rights, no need to read them to me. All right, I know it's routine. The handcuffs aren't necessary. But please, don't let them see me. It would break their hearts. Could I have another drink before we go? No? You're sure? Ah well, it's about time I gave it up, anyway...  
  
~FIN~  
  
After Zell's death, the entire drug ring in Balamb Garden came forward.  
  
Selphie was killed by a Grat in the Training Center shortly afterwards, when she overdosed and went to dance with it.  
  
Squall committed suicide when he learned of Zell's death. He left a suicide note with just two words: "I'm sorry."  
  
Rinoa is currently in the Deling City Rehab Facility, along with Fujin, Raijin, Irvine, and our witness, who asked not to be revealed for the sake of her fans. 


End file.
